Anyone else with insomnia when losing weight?

I always notice my body feels wired up when I'm losing weight, and I cannot fall asleep and only stay asleep for about 4-5 hours. I always know I'm losing weight when I have trouble sleeping like this. It's frustrating because I tend to feel worn down beneath the restless energy, and I really do like to sleep. When I'm maintaining or gaining weight I'm usually a person who sleeps 8 hours a night plus naps, so it's a huge change.

Am I the only one who has this issue, or does anyone else encounter this? Is there anything to do to help it? I try relaxation, tea, get a lot of exercise, and even take a benzodiazepine (Klonopin) and nothing seems to make a difference.

Yes, when I am eating less and exercising, I also sleep less.  I also wake up more during the night.  I'm not sure what to do about it.  I think it has to do with being deprived of the required amount of cals so the body is tired.  Not sure.  I know that when I go on a killer bike ride and am exhausted at the end of the day, I can't get to sleep or stay asleep.  I have been waking up at 5:30 every morning, I just use it to go to the gym. 

No, but here are two things that can do it:

 

1.  Exercising too close to your bedtime, because of the release of adrenaline during workouts.  'Too close' varies from person to person so if your exercise time is in the early afternoon or evening, you may want to switch it to the morning.  

 2.  Not eating enough carbohydrates for your brain to function properly and trigger release of enough seratonin.  If you are on a low-carb diet or not eating carbs after a certain point of the day, this might be the problem.  Many low-carbers experience insomnia, especially if they are actually sticking to it, lol.  You could start eating a light, low-calorie carb as a bedtime snack (glass of milk, for example) or a protein with tryptophan such as turkey.  

3.  Just not eating enough calories can also cause sleep patterns to change.   

Is it possible that your commitment and concerns about getting things right, and the jubilation of achieving results are playing on your mind?

If your mind is running 100 mph, you have little chance of settling or remaining settled on a night.

I suffer from insomnia A LOT, but I'm not very energetic...

I see that I too have this problem, thanks for your input to help me understand.

You might want to check your caffeine intake.  I know I usually drink more coffee and tea when trying to lose weight.  Drinking too much or  too late in the day can affect your sleep.

same here.  I only have limited caffine in morning.  I read a long time ago that exercise at night stimulates you and can affect sleep.

I think mine is from cutting calories.  I know sleep is good for you so I don't like it when, like this morning as most mornings I wake up too early and can't go back to sleep, then feel tired throughout the day.

I am going to save some cal and have a nice snack at bedtime and see if that helps.

I think my problem is what roj47 has said.  I think I'm thinking too much and worrying.  Also, thanks Snowhite, I didn't know that stuff about not eating enough carbs.

I had heard, and have seen over several months, that weight loss "reconciling" happens at night when I'm asleep.  I don't have trouble going to sleep, but have constantly had trouble sleeping much beyond 5 AM since starting my diet 6 months ago.  I run blood glucose tests right after I get up, and they have been consistently under 100 for several months - often in the low 80's.  I conclude that my body has used up all its readily available glucose by 5 AM, and that I'm waking up because I need to replenish it right away.  Evening snacks sometimes help, but what seems to help the most is eating a fairly large dinner which includes dessert - the later the better. 

If I wake up in the middle of the night and can't fall back to sleep I will drink 4 oz of milk of oj.  I will usually fall asleep within 20 inutes or so of drinking.  I attribute the restlessness to hunger.

You're not alone.  I notice whenever I eat high fiber, whole foods (beans, vegs, fruit, whole grains) and eliminate the processed carbs (white sugar, flour, bread, rice) I don't need as much sleep and have alot of energy.  Eat the junk and I feel junk (run down, sluggish, cranky and need my 8 hrs sleep).   So for me, I know it's all diet related.

I've never been able to go to sleep when my body told me to do so, but I have noticed that I do wake up earlier.

Before if I went to sleep around 2-3 a.m, i'd wake up around 2-3 p.m.
12 being the earliest.

Now If I go to sleep between 1-4 a.m. I will wake up around late 8:00 a.m. It sucks. I definitely need more sleep v_v

I am a new member to the CC group. All of you guys are great! I have insomnia in spurts, whether I am dieting or not.  I have noticed that it does have alot to do with what I eat, when I eat it and when I exercise. I empathize with you! Its nice to know that I'm not the only one watching info-mercials at 2 am.

I have a smiliar problem.  I have been feeling very, very tired all day.  Then I work out and feel pretty good, and then can't sleep.  If I worked out in the morning, I bet it would help a lot.  My mind also goes and goes when I'm in bed.


It sucks.

laschndr
Im with you!
I dont know what to do, i should just buy some tylenol pm =]
Plus, i have been sleeping with my contacts in......yep, thats a problem...........

I just went through a sleep study test and found out I have Sleep fragmentation disorder and Sleep Apnea.  I was having problems getting to sleep and waking up alot.  I was so tired during the day.  Dieting and exercising seemed to make it harder to get to sleep.  I also yawned alot when exercising, which means I am not breathing right.  Just using the "mask" one night (which forces you to breath deeper) I felt GREAT!  Wow, I had so much energy the next day and fell asleep the next night right away.  Did you know that if you have a sleep disorder it can be a major factor in gaining and being unable to lose weight? 

It would be worth seeing your doctor about being sent for a sleep study. 

I've suffered with sleeping problems for a long time..either too much or too little. But since I started really exercizing, my sleeping problems are even more uneven. Either I sleep like a stone for 9 hrs or I can only get in about 4hrs. I work from home, so I'm really not committed  to a schedule since it is summer and the kids are out of scool. Hopefully when they go back, I can get a little steadier schedule. I'm not on a low carb diet, but I do notice that if I've had too much protien that sleeping is a little more difficult. I'm going to try the carb thing at night.
Thanks

This has happened to me before, usually when I exercise in the evenings. I won't be able to sleep until 3 or 4 in the morning. When I exercise in the mornings, though, I toally pass out at night and don't wake up at all.

i am up at 3:39 am after sleeping only about 4.5 hours and googled weight loss and insomnia and hit this thread  .

 

Based on what I've read from above

 

• I am a vegitarian and my diet is high in carbohydrates,
• i am getting most of the calories my body requires but am running a deficit to lose weight
•  i do consume a decent amount of caffeine during the day (damn you good tasting diet soft drinks) however this has never affected me before (i used to be able to easily drink a ton of mtn dew and sleep like a baby, or tea, or any other caffeine laced drink) maybe this is one of the changes that go along with losing weight.  
• generally i don't exercise anywhere near bed time.  (yesterday for example my bike ride ended a good 8.5 hours before sleepy time)
• i don't wake up ravenously hungry, most times (like right now) i have a little pang, like i could go eat something but my stomach isn't growling.

This happens to me just often enough to be annoying.  The next day is not much fun at work, fortunately this time for me it will be on a Sunday so i can snooze late and catch up when i feel tired again in 2 hours.  I am just resolved that it is another bit of the pain in the butt losing weight can be, but i am down from where I was, my blood pressure is down, I'm feeling better every day so I'll just accept it and read when i am restless.

Anyway thanks for asking the question and thanks for the responses.

 

 

Since being on my diet i cant remember the last time i slept for a solid 8 hours,its always 5 - 6 hours per night and up at 6am leaving me feeling tired early afternoon.

Think i'll eat a apple or something an hour before bed to see if that helps otherwise im going to try some ZMA 30 - 60 mins before bedtime which promotes recovery from exercise but also from what ive been reading makes you sleep better.